


Discovering Oneself

by Viveleschao59



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Demons, Familiars, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, For Want of a Nail, Gen, Grooming, Hurt/Comfort, Pack Dynamics, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Self-Doubt, Smart Okumura Rin, Tails
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-11-27 20:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20954579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viveleschao59/pseuds/Viveleschao59
Summary: Witnessing your dad's death wasn't a good way to start your new life as a half-demon. Putting aside the lies and the grief, when everything about yourself feels better than it ever felt before you are bound to understand that maybe being a demon isn't so bad if it means the world finally feels right around you. And maybe you can find more about yourself if you takes the time to really see what's in front of you. After all, what's better than a demon to learn about demons ?In which Rin reflects on his feeling and listen to his body, getting an unlikely mentor and becoming stronger in the process.





	Discovering Oneself

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone and thank you for clicking on this fic, I hope you will like it, we are in for a long ride.
> 
> This fanfiction starts just after Rin says to Mephisto that he will become an exorcist, between the first 2 chapter of the manga. It will follow canon events with twist along the way as we get farther from canon!Rin. So you definitely will need to have read the manga to understand the fic better.
> 
> I've had this idea for a while that Rin should have had the time to think about the fact that his body completly changed after drawing Kurikara for the first time, poor boy has had no time to think of the consequences and deal with his feeling, so here we are.
> 
> It's only my second fanfic and my first on the Ao no Exorcist fandom so I hope my characters will not be OOC, feel free to tell me in the comments.
> 
> I also don't have a beta reader so even if I edited my chapter mutiple times, there probably still is some errors, sorry for those, english isn't my first langage
> 
> Edited the 08/05/2020 : 
> 
> Hi everyone and sorry for the hiatus, I'm a master procrastinator !
> 
> I've edited the chapter a lot because I found it lacking in the description departement and it's now almost twice longer than the original one but I'm satisfied with it ! I needed to edit it so I could continue the fic. The second chapter is on the way and I hope I'll managed to post it in the month !
> 
> I also now have my best friend as a beta so there should be less errors, but we are only human so sorry if some managed to get past us !

Rin let himself fall in a heap on the ground against his bed after throwing the Komaken on it without looking where it ended up. His clothes were drenched and a puddle was slowly forming beneath his ass, the sound of the water drops hitting the hardwood floor echoed in the bedroom between Rin's ragged breath and the thundering of rain against the window. Passing a hand through his hair to move his soaked bang out of his eyes, Rin exhaled a long sigh, the weight of all that happened finally taking its toll on him.

He was exhausted.

Letting his head fall back on the bed, he looked at the ceiling with unfocused eyes and gritted his teeth. Everything felt like a nightmare and Rin wished he could wake up and find out that nothing happened but what he saw when looking in a mirror was a reminder that this was real.

His dad was dead.

Rin closed his eyes to stop the burning of tears, didn't want to cry again, pain throbbing like a bleeding wound inside his chest. The simmering anger that started building when he found out the truth was threatening to overflow the grief. It wasn't the fact that all this name calling he had to endure as a kid were actually true, that he really was a demon – half-demon, whatever – it was the fact that his dad _ lied to him for his whole life. _ Rin's throat clenched against something between a sob and a growl, no longer able to contain them the tears flowed freely along the teen's cheeks, burning against his rain-cold skin. Everything hurted and he couldn't do anything about it because _his dad was dead_.

There was no one to answer his questions, no one to tell him what to do from now on, no one to help him understand what it meant to be a half-demon. He buried his face in his knees, trying to hide from the world or the pain, he wasn't sure. _ 'Why did he lied to me like that ? Didn't he trust me ? And what about Yukio ? I told the clown I wanted to be an exorcist but what does that even mean ? I don't know the first thing about demons, thought it was all a joke, should have listened to the Old Man...' _ There was something building inside him fuelled by his emotions, like a warmth trying to expand and fill him whole, comfort him, but he ignored it, too lost in thoughts to acknowledge what it could be.

The tears continued to fall.

It was too much.

The feeling of betrayal settled in his gut, bitter and painfull, there was not anyone he could talk to about this and even if Yukio was there, he had no goddamned idea what he would tell him, if he could even explain with as little of the situation he understood. It was probably better if he didn't know anyway....

Loneliness wasn't anything new for Rin, he just hoped Yukio wouldn't think less of him when he learned the truth...

Chocking on a sob as it escaped him, he tightened the grip on his knees, burying his head further. Everything was too much. The pain, the anger, the lies, _ everything. _

Warmth envelopped him as the flames bursted through the wall of his emotions and shrouded him in a small layer of blue fire. Startled by their appearance, Rin let go of his knees, opening his eyes to look at himself. The fire danced across his body, flickering gently in shades of blue and white, casting an etheral glow in the darkened room. It was drying his clothes and the floor beneath him but didn't stray any further, it also didn't burn at all.

Fascinated, Rin didn't realize he'd stopped crying until the flames were gone, taking with them most of the pain and leaving him dry as they disappeared back into him. A shiver wracked his body from head to toes. Rin almost wished them back, he missed the warmth.

Dismissing the feeling for now, he decided that a shower and a change of clothes would do wonder to warm him up and he finally got up with every intention of following through.

\--xxx--

As he got back to his room, warm from the shower and dressed with a blue pair of loose shorts and a grey shirt, still in the process of drying his hair with a towel, he remembered about the Komaken. He looked around his bed to search for it. As he saw nothing out of the ordinary on the sheets, he crawled on the bed to look at the space between it and the wall and sure enough, the sword was there. Grabbing it with his left hand he saw a small puddle where the sword used to be, the sleeve covering the Komaken still drenched in rainwater. He promptly got the katana out of it and dried the scabbard with the towel before doing the same with the floor. His work done he laid the sword on the bed beside the pillow and put the sleeve to dry on the back of his desk chair.

He looked at the soaked towel with a frown and returned to the bathroom to grab a clean one. A flick of his tail made him stop in the doorframe as he could feel drops of water flying from the fur hitting his legs. With an annoyed grumble he also grabbed the hairdryer before going back to his room.

Sitting on his bed with his tail across his lap, Rin had no idea what to do with the fur. Was it like hair ? Or should he treat it like animal fur ? The monastery was always too poor to get a pet so Rin had no experience with cleaning and caring for fur. That one time Yukio and him tried to keep a stray puppy didn't count, they barely had it a day before their dad found out. Anyway, he hoped his shampoo was good enough, it didn't feel weird when he washed his tail so it should be good enough. There were tons of knots though, especially at the end where the fur was extra fluffy, he could already feel the pain it would be to smooth it out.

Setting the hairdryer to the lowest level, he started blowing the fur at the end of his tail and slowly moved along the limb to its base while using his finger carefully to untangle the knots. It was a slow process, the sound of the device too loud for his ears, but the grooming filled him with a soothing feeling and he could feel himself relaxing more and more as he went on.

After some times his tail was completely dry so he set the hairdryer aside and reclined against his pillow to get comfortable. He didn't stop running his finger in the fur at the end, feeling at ease with the motion, it gave him a sentiment of peace, allowing him to think more clearly about his situation. It was probably the only thing that let him keep it together. The pain wasn't magically gone. Rin was still hurting, there was still _ too much _for him to process. But it helped by muting all the bad feelings so he took advantage of what he could and didn't stop.

Tracing random patterns in the fur, Rin closed his eyes and sighed, trying to let go of the pain wasn't easy and his mind wandered as a distraction. There was noise coming from somewhere downstairs but he wasn't sure about what was causing it, the storm hadn't stop outside, the rain hitting the window with every burst of wind, muffling everything else like a blanket. He thought it might be the monks talking, they must have come home when he was in the shower.

Glad that they didn't seek him out because he wasn't in the mood to talk about the events of the last two days, his mind turned to something more important, something that had been bugging him ever since he drew the Komaken. For the first time in his life, he felt right, like a piece of himself that was missing was finally back and he didn't even know he needed it. Everything clicked. He didn't regret drawing the sword at all.

Moving was different, he was never clumsy but there were those times when he would overbalance and fall for some reasons or those times when, in fights, he would let instinct take control and lose any grace or coordination he might have, like his instinct couldn't work well with his body, as if he was _missing something_. He now realized it was probably the lack of tail shooting them in the metaphorical foot, because he didn't have that much problem when he was actively concentrating. He might be even stronger than before now, with this feeling of being more in control, in tune with his body.

_ Balanced. _

The word felt right, even if the teen wasn't sure how much his awakening changed him. Something was definitely going on with his senses, he knew he couldn't hear that well before and now he could almost understand what the monks were saying even with the sound of rain on top of it and the closed door of his bedroom in the way. His nose was definitely sharper, Rin realized as the smell of cooking food slowly wafted into the room from said door. He should be hungry, but somehow the onslaught of feelings almost made him nauseous, the thought of eating turning his stomach upside down.

He thought about Yukio instead because puking on his bed wasn't anywhere on his to do list now that he finally felt better. Wondered if his brother came home with the others after the ceremony or if he got back to his dorm. Rin concentrated on the voices coming from downstairs and after roughly five minutes of listening and not hearing Yukio's voice, he concluded that the latter was the answer. He inhaled deeply at that and was surprised he could recognize his twin's smell, though it was kinda faint, slowly fading from the room, a sign that the four-eyes hadn't been back once since leaving for the True Cross dormitory.

He could feel his ears drooping at the thought and that surprised him enough to stop thinking about Yukio and get back to his list of changes, wondering what the hell moving ears could be useful for. He rolled with it anyway, it wasn’t' like he could go back, he was pretty sure he wouldn't want to even if it was possible.

So smell and hearing were enhanced, he could definitely live with that, it would probably take some time to adjust to the changes, he could already feel the future headaches he would get from the new oversensitivity but the perks greatly outweighed the downs in this case and he couldn't wait to learn how to use the changes in his everyday life. Maybe it would even help as an exorcist!

Back on track, his sense of touch seemed unchanged, he couldn't feel anything different on that front, at least so long as you put the tail aside, the new limb was so sensitive it was painful. He hoped it would pass with time. Skipping over the sense of taste because thinking of food was still a hard no, sight was the only one left.

Opening his eyes in wonder, Rin's eyes passed along the room, concentrating on what he could see. Dust was flying around, slowly falling towards the ground and that was definitely something he couldn't see without a ray of sunlight before. He could read the titles of the books on Yukio's bookshelf all the way across the room. Could see the details in the wood from the floorboard and the beds, the desks and the chairs, little cracks and ribs along the surface of the furniture. Everything looked more colorful too, or maybe he just never payed attention before, but things that looked plain now looked vibrant. Even his blue shorts were not just one shade of blue like he thought they were. It felt like he was finally seeing the world for what it was and could stare for hours, filling his head with all the things he missed before.

The wave of information was suddenly too much and he closed his eyes again, blinking back some tears he didn't even feel coming, it would take time for them to adjust it seemed. Rin was afraid what the sun's effect would be on his newly improved vision but it wasn't like he could stay inside for who knew how long until he was used to it.

He bit his lower lip at the thought and yelped as his new fangs went right through the tender flesh and pierced it without resistance. Licking the blood absentmindedly, one of Rin's hands let go of his tail to touch the wound and the teen was surprised by the absence of blood on his fingers. Touching again, all he could feel was unblemished skin, as if there wasn't any wound in the first place, he was already healed. He freaked out a little at that, sure it was useful to be able to heal fast but there was fast and then there was _monstrously fast, _it was a little unsettling to know he had high speed healing, he wasn't sure he wanted to know how far it could go, the implications were terrifying.

Rin must have been a little crazy because those thoughts weren't enough to keep him from wondering how fast his palm would heal if he put those new claws of his against it with enough force to break skin. They didn't look like much, being just a little longer than his old nails were, but they looked really sharp somehow and looking at them he knew he could definitely do some damage with them if he tried. Breaking that dangerous trail of thoughts by closing his eyes again, Rin got back to petting his tail with both hands and tried to think of something else.

Putting aside all the physical changes brought on by his awakening, there was one that didn't fit in this category while still being the biggest of them all: the blue flames. The warmth inside him sparked at that, as if just thinking about the fire was enough to awaken it. He knew so little about what he could do with them and there probably wasn't anyone who could teach him shit about that either.

Rin wouldn’t think about the only other being with the same power, because there was no way in hell he would ask that bastard anything. Not like he could if he wanted, what with the thing between Gehena and Assia, but he definitely didn't want to have anything to do with _Satan_ more than he was already obligated to, the asshole being his _father_ was already more than he could take.

_'Nope. Nope, nope, nope, no way, not going there.'_, just thinking about it made his skin crawl, goosebumps erupting on his arms and legs and he unconsciously reached inside for the warmth. Rin gasped when the fire answered and he suddenly found himself covered in an ethereal glow; the layer so thin it looked like he was glowing. The fact that nothing was burning around him, be it his clothes, the sheets or even his bed, told Rin that even while knowing nothing of this power, he somehow had a modicum of control over it. If he could control the temperature of the flames and their target it would be really useful in many situations.

The part of him that loved to cook couldn't help but think how convenient it would be if he could control the fire enough to cook food without needing a stove or an oven. Then he thought about the people’s faces if they saw him cooking with what they thought of as _Satan's Fire_ and he bursted out laughing at the picture his brain conjured. It was a weird thing to laugh about but he couldn't help it and soon he rolled on his side, his tail forgotten as he hugged his chest, ribs hurting from the forces of his laugh. There were tears at the corner of his eyes again but from joy this time so he didn't wipe them out.

He did catch his tail though. The thing wagging like crazy from his mirth was starting to hurt from the oversensitivity. His laughing stopped immediately as he grabbed it with too much force because _it hurted so much, what the hell_. With a half-strangled whine, he let go of the limb like it burned him, letting it fall limp across his legs, the fluffy end curling towards the teens stomach. It twitched minutely, from the pain or the laughing Rin wasn't sure, it was like the limb had a mind of its own. A visceral part of the teen's mind told him the tail was a weak spot and should be protected at all cost, he had no idea where the thought came from but he knew he would listen to it.

Exhaling a ragged breath, his gaze traveled down to stare at the limb. Moving his right hand towards it gently, Rin started petting the end again in a gentle motion as if to apologize for the rough treatment. He trailed his claws slowly through the fur and a shiver moved along his spine, it felt like his bones were melting. There was something building in his chest as his mind slowly drifted to sleep, the exhaustion catching him, each stroke of his claw making it stronger. When a rumbling sound started echoing through the room, Rin finally succumbed to sleep.

\--xxx--

When he blinked awake, he had no idea what time it was. The sun filtering through the window looked like the light of dawn but he wasn't sure about that since his sight was different now. Sitting up with a groan Rin scrubbed his eyes to get rid of the last traces of sleep clinging to them. The sound of rustling fabric took his attention to his lap and he squinted at the blanket pooling there. He didn't remember much but he knew he was just lying on top of the sheets when he drifted off.

Without thinking, he grabbed it and put it to his nose. It smelled like Yukio. Rin panicked for a hot second at the idea that his brother saw his tail when he couldn't even explain it. Then he took a deep breath that told him the monks were the ones that put the blanket over his sleeping form. He couldn't say who did it because recognizing people by smell was still really new and it felt like there were at least two distinctive scents, but he knew it was them.

He could also smell food and his head turned to follow it to his desk where a plate of onigiri rested between schoolbooks and sheets littered randomly on the surface. His stomach growled, whatever made him nauseous the previous day gone and the teen realized he was starving. Getting up with a yawn, tail trailing behind him, he closed the distance to the desk and went to grab one when he saw a piece of folded paper with his name beside the plate.

Enfolding it, he started reading the message while picking up an onigiri.

''_Yo Rin, we hope you slept well._

_Me and the guys decided to cook dinner when you didn't come down yesterday, thought you needed the alone time. Didn't expect to see you asleep that early without even a blanket to cover you ! I used the one on Yukio's bed so you wouldn't be cold, I'm sure he wouldn't mind._

_If you ever wake up in the middle of the night, here's a little something to fill you up, it's not much and it isn't as good as what you can make but it should be enough to get you by until morning!_

_We're here for you if you need someone to talk, and don't forget about Yukio too !_

  
  


_The monks."_

Warmth spread through Rin as he read, a smile blooming on his face. He was so happy he could cry. He shouldn't have said he was alone, the monks were a part of his family as much as Yukio was.

Eating as fast as possible without choking so he could go down and thank them, he almost did when the sound of something vibrating echoed through the room. It was the phone his dad gave him. Not used to the device, he fumbled for a minute before finding the source of the noise. There was a text from Mephisto. Of course, his was the only number in the phone after all.

_ Guten Morgen, Okumura-kun _

_ I will pick you up at the monastery at 7:30 am sharp for our little arrangement. Be sure to pack a bag of clothes and necessities. _

_ Please, try to be presentable. _

Wondering what the clown meant by that last statement he looked at the time. It was only a little after six, probably the first time ever Rin was awake by himself before 6:00 am. Not bothering with a reply, he swallowed the last of his onigiri then went to his closet and started packing.

\--xxx--

It was close to six forty by the time he got down, clothed, Kurikara on his shoulder and with a full bag in hand. The smell of food was strong and Rin could feel his mouth start to water at the scent. Izumi was dressing the table with Nagatomo while Kyodo and Maruta were preparing breakfast.

“Ohayo guys ! Thanks for the onigiri, they were really good!” Rin threw around as he went to help with the cooking after putting his bag against the wall. There was a collective greeting in response with a “you're welcome” following. Their smiles were a little strained as they looked at him, from Oyaji's death probably, he wasn't the only one hurting after all. It could also have been because his tail was out in the open, it wasn't like he could make it disappear. He tried to hide it under his shirt but dropped the idea really fast because that hurt like a bitch, not to mention he almost fell on his ass without it to keep balance.

Cooking was always relaxing for Rin and he started humming softly. He didn't immediately realize that he was also using his tail to grab things as if it was a third arm, it moved so easily he had a hard time thinking it had been only two days since he got it. He cooked some tamagoyaki, helped with the miso soup and fried tofu, everything went fast, the monks were already almost done when he joined them.

He sat at the table between Izumi and Kyodo, listening to the others as they started talking about how things were going to be now that Oyaji was dead. The word 'Paladin' was thrown more than once and Rin tuned them out while putting that in a corner of his mind for later. Mephisto would probably explain it to him if he asked even if the clown didn't look like the type to answer nicely. With a collective “Itadakimasu” they dug in. Despite eating the onigiri the monks made for him, Rin was still starving and made quick work of his food.

He was in the process of refilling his bowl of rice when he heared Izumi say his name. “What was that? Sorry I wasn't listening.” Rin answered sheepishly.

“I asked what you were gonna do now Rin? We didn't really have time to talk about it” the monk repeated with a small smile. It was hesitant, but genuine, a responding smile bloomed on the teens face.

“I've decided to become an exorcist like Oyaji, Mephisto is gonna pick me up later, asked me to pack a bag. I have no idea why though” He answered as he picked another piece of tofu to go with his rice. The monks exchanged knowing glances at that.

“Well, if you want to become an exorcist then you'll need to enroll in True Cross Academy, so it's probably why he's coming for you, he is the chairman after all” Came the response from Nagatomo.

Rin choked on his rice and grabbed the glass of water Maruta held to him with a grimace “That damn clown is actually True Cross's Head? You kiddin' me?” He couldn't believe it. With a get up like that Rin wondered if the school uniform was also a fashion disaster, he hoped not, there was no way in hell he would ever wear something like that.

They laughed at that, agreeing with the clown comment. Kyodo got up to refill the pitcher with water. “Yeah, I know, hard to believe, huh ? But yeah, that's the truth, you can ask him later if you want”

Izumi cleared his throat to grab his attention. “You already know it's a boarding school, with Yukio being enrolled there. The exorcist classes start before the regular ones so you'll need some stuff right away before we can send the rest of your stuff to your dorm room when you'll get one.”

Rin frowned at that, sure he wanted to learn about demons, it would be great to learn about himself, even if being an exorcist was all about killing them surely the knowledge could be useful, but _high_ _ school. _That was something he could have lived without.

“_What a pain.”_ Rin groaned and got himself another round of laughter for that comment. Then he looked at the clock and inhaled the rest of his breakfast when he saw it was almost time.

The moment it hit seven thirty there was a knock on the door.

_‘That's some insane punctuality there' _Rin thought as he went to open it.

Without any surprise, Mephisto was on the other side, dressed in the same freakish clothes as the day before, umbrella and all even if the sky was bright blue without a cloud in sight. The light did end up hurting the teen's eyes and he found himself obligated to squint to keep the tears aways. He was lucky for the early hour, the sun wasn't yet high enough in the sky to get over the buildings surrounding the monastery. The smell of the city hit his nose but it wasn't overwhelming, the scent of trees and dew most prominent in the morning air.

As the other opened his mouth to talk, Rin interrupted him “I'm ready to go whenever, just let me grab my bag” Then turned around to do just that. Only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“I thought I told you in my message to be presentable, Okumura-kun ?” Mephisto's voice was even but something in it made Rin's stomach clench at the words. The teen's ears twitched and his tail coiled nervously behind him.

It felt like there was something pushing on him, a force coming from the other that made his skin crawl. _ A strange urge to bare his throat flashed through him and he didn't know what to do about that. S _lowly turning around to face the other, a startling realization came to mind.

_ 'How did I miss it yesterday !? It's so obvious with his ears and fang, I've got them too ! Hell even his eyes don't look human ! Not to mention that heavy aura coming from him !' _

Rin did his best to cool his expression, hoping his internal turmoil wasn't showing on his face. “W-What ? I ain't naked, am I ? Did ya mean I shoulda wear a suit ?” Cursing the stutter silently, he tried to say that harshly but it came out strangled instead as his throat tightened half way through the words.

Mephisto's arm then moved towards Rin's tail and it was total instinct that made the boy take a step back in a u-turn, hand grabbing the limb to hide it behind him as his back hit the wall. He could feel the fur standing on end, his heart hammering in his chest. There was a wild look in his eyes and sweat was running down his back. He barely registered the pain from grabbing his tail too harshly over the sudden need to run that filed him.

Mephisto straightened as if nothing happened but the look in his eyes pinned Rin on the spot “I'm talking about your tail.” He scoffed. “Gentlemen knows to keep it hidden. But your reaction is proof that you somehow understand that you should be careful with it, I must say I'm pleasantly surprised by that.” his grin was predatory and the tone of his voice so far from surprised it wasn't even funny.

Rin gulped and cleared his throat to get rid of whatever was lodged there so he could talk. “Well, I tried hiding it under my shirt but it hurt and it was super uncomfortable. There also is no way to hide it in my pants because my tail is too long to fit.” The half demon then looked at Mephisto from behind his lashes and made a quick decision he hoped wouldn't come back to bite him in the ass. “Say, you're a demon too right ? Is there any way to hide my tail that's not painful?”

Mephisto's eyebrows raised at that, surprise obvious in his eyes for a second before it disappeared, making Rin wonder if it was a trick of the light. The predatory smirk was gone, replaced by a neutral expression that made it impossible to know what the other was thinking.

Rin had no idea how he asked that with a straight face, his heart was still running a mile a minute and the fur on his tail still stood on end, the limb utterly still in his hand. Somehow, he felt a little better after asking the others for help. Maybe it was a demon thing, best not to think too much about it for now.

That train of thoughts was interrupted when Mephisto's hand landed on his shoulder, startling the shit out of him. “Eins, zwei, drei !” With a snap of the other's fingers and a poof of pink smoke the teen blinked to the familiar sight of his bedroom.

“H-How... ?” Rin cried only to be interrupted.

“Well, well, well, you are full of surprises indeed, Okumura-kun.” The predatory grin was back allong with something in the older demon's eyes that Rin couldn't quite place. “You are right of course, I, also, am a demon and I shall grant you some help with your predicament, it's only the gentlemanly thing to do after all”

Mephisto walked around Rin, letting go of the teen's shoulder to stand in front of him his expression all business like. “We do not have time to dwelve into demons characteristics much, I'm afraid, but know this: you, are part of what we call 'the superior demons class' meaning the strongest and more sentient ones, not unlike the Baals which I am a part of.”

The older demon put his hand in front of Rin's face just as he was opening his mouth to ask a question. “Later, all in due time. Now, high level demons can use their powers to hide their weakness to others as well as most of their demonic features, it is quite taxing at first but I have no doubt you can do it considering your demonic ascendance. Demon tails are one such weakness and thus can be hidden using one's power adequately.”

Rin nodded at that, he knew his tail was important but to be told by a demon that it was indeed a weakness made it all the more important to be able to hide it.

“I want you to reach for your flames but do not let them burst, it will be hard since you are new at this but I am sure you can do it.” Mephisto continued before gesturing for Rin to start with a smile full of teeth that made the boy determined to get it on the first try.

Closing his eyes to help center himself, Rin reached for the warmth he could feel inside and tugged gently. Nothing happened at first except for the feeling of sparks not unlike the ones that came out when you tried to light a match. But Rin was stubborn if nothing else and he continued to prod until it worked. The teen knew he succeeded when the warmth expanded until he could feel it from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.

When the boy opened his eyes again it was to see a really thin cover of fire all over his body. It felt like coming home and something started building in his chest in response to that, the same as the previous night when he was grooming his tail. He will absolutely do that again in the future.

A soft clap had Rin turning his eyes to Mephisto's, the rumbling stopping at the startling sound.

The older demon looked at him with something unreadable, those deep green eyes looking right into his night blue ones. The smirk was gone, replaced by a flat mouth that did nothing to help understand what was on Mephisto's mind. Rin didn't want to assume anything but it almost seemed like curiosity displayed on the other's face but it was gone as soon as he caught glimpse of it. The constant pressure he could still feel not a moment ago was nowhere to be found.

Mephisto clapped softly again as if to break the spell and Rin straightened unconsciously.

“We have a promising demon in you Okumura-kun, you managed it quite easily for someone who awakened only two days ago.” The older demon then moved to Rin's side with a gesture at the boy to stay still. “Now I want you to concentrate so all the fire covering you goes to your tail and only your tail. You need to cover it entirely for the glamour to work.”

It took some time for Rin to get a handle on how to move the fire but he managed it. Slowly, the thin layer was moving towards the teen's tail to cover it in an ethereal glow of blue fire. The moment the last flicker leaved his body for the tail, there was a brief glow and the limb disappeared, taking the blue hue with it. Rin almost panicked before realizing he could still feel it moving. He still reached with a hand to touch the air where he thought he could feel it and sure enough, the limb was still there, just invisible.

Rin turned to Mephisto at that, a big grin that showed off his fang splitting his face and was surprised by the responding smile he found on the older demon's face. This one was nothing like the earlier one, it looked more genuine, proud maybe and the teenager preened at that for some reason. He could feel his tail wagging behind him and he blushed at that, suddenly really happy that nobody could see it, it was embarrassing.

“Marvelous, I must say I'm proud of you Okumura-kun.” Mephisto walked around him towards the door, opening it. “Now I seem to remember we have a place to be and time is slowly running out.” Mephisto chuckled at that. “If you stay focused you should be able to keep the glamour on all day without problem but you must know that it will most likely wear off in your sleep, at least until you are in better control of your powers.”

And with that, Mephisto walked out, expecting Rin to follow him.

**Author's Note:**

> If you are reading this then you've read through the first chapter and I'm really happy about that.
> 
> Mephisto is a tricky character but I had fun writing his parts. I hope he isn't OOC.
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated, I hope to see you again next chapter.
> 
> Thanks again !


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